The inventive concepts disclosed herein relate generally to cable network data analytics systems, and more specifically but not by way of limitation, to systems and methods for procuring, analyzing, enriching, and publishing spectrum data to provide business and operational intelligence to network operators.
Network operators, such as cable network operators, provide video (e.g., television channels), Internet, telephony, and other services to customers by transmitting signals (e.g., digital radiofrequency and/or optical signals including a spectrum of frequencies) over cable networks (e.g., hybrid optical fiber coaxial cable networks) to multiple communities under various franchise agreements. Network operators have been able to remotely read and marginally analyze Internet and telephony spectral data from their cable networks by procuring limited management information base (MIB) files from their customers' modems or other readable network devices. However, until recently such MIB files only included data for the Internet and telephony spectra and lacked data for the video spectrum. While valuable, the business and operational intelligence provided to network operators from the Internet and telephony spectra provided a limited portion of the full spectrum of signals transmitted through the cable network, and did not include the video frequencies within the full spectrum transmitted to network devices.
Throughout the last decade, network operators have utilized digital video compression transmitted through digital consumer terminals (DCTs) to distribute video content to their customers. Until recently, measuring the magnitude of the input signal versus frequency within the full-spectral range of the DCTs was not possible from a remote location. Instead, network operators had limited insight into the video spectrum through the use of hand-held spectrum analyzers capable of monitoring one DCT at one customer premise at a time, which relied on a technician being physically present on, or near, the customer premises to measure and/or monitor the video spectrum.
Similar to analyzing the Internet and telephony spectral data, it is advantageous for network operators to measure the power of the video spectrum of both known and unknown signals at readable devices coupled with the cable network, to provide a clearer and more reliable video signal to cable network customers. Providing robust RF-spectrum signal analytics for customer premises in a cable network from a remote location may reduce the need for node sweeps (e.g., physically connecting equipment to a node or a readable device to inspect performance) and/or may reduce or obviate trips to customer premises, by arming network operators with advanced intelligence and allowing network operators to proactively mitigate signal issues before the signal issues impact services.